Concept of Attribution - Biases in Attribution

Topics

Estimated time: 14 minutes

Introduction
The Correspondence Bias
The Self-Serving Bias
Key Points: Biases in Attribution

CISCE: Class 12

Introduction

When people try to explain the causes of behaviour — their own or others' — they often make systematic errors. These errors are called biases in attribution. The two major sources of bias are:

The Correspondence Bias (Fundamental Attribution Error)
The Self-Serving Bias

CISCE: Class 12

The Correspondence Bias

Meaning:

It is the tendency to attribute others' behaviour to internal causes (personality) more than is actually justified.
Also called the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE).
Proposed by Gilbert and Malone (1995).

Why It Happens?

People naturally focus on the person's behaviour, which is visible, rather than the situation, which is often invisible.
External factors are ignored, and internal characteristics are blamed instead.

Cultural Influence:

Individualistic cultures (Western Europe, North America) → bias is more prevalent.
Collectivistic cultures (Asian, African countries) → bias is less prevalent.

Key Study: Choi & Nisbett (1998):

U.S. students showed the correspondence bias more strongly.
Korean students showed it to a much lesser degree.
Proves that cultural factors influence attribution bias.

CISCE: Class 12

The Self-Serving Bias

Meaning:

It is the tendency to credit positive outcomes to internal causes (talent, effort) and blame negative outcomes on external causes (luck, others).
Core attitude: "We can never do wrong, but they can never do right".

Example:

C grade → student blames the teacher or parents (external).
A grade → student credits own talent and effort (internal).

Causes:

Cognitive factors → errors in how success and failure information is processed.
Motivational factors → need to protect self-esteem and self-image.
Brown and Rogers (1991) found greater support for the motivational explanation.

Impact on Relationships:

The "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude harms interpersonal relationships.
It creates friction and prevents people from accepting responsibility.

Cultural Influence:

Individualistic societies (Western countries) → bias is more common.
Collectivistic societies (Asian, African countries) → bias is less common.

CISCE: Class 12

Key Points: Biases in Attribution

Feature	Correspondence Bias	Self-Serving Bias
Focus	Judging others' behaviour.	Judging one's own outcomes.
Error	Overblaming personality for others' actions.	Taking credit for success, blaming others for failure.
Key researchers	Gilbert & Malone (1995).	Brown & Rogers (1991).
Cultural pattern	Stronger in individualistic cultures.	Stronger in individualistic cultures.